Probioitics and Healthy Gut Bacteria
Bacteria Treatment Can Prevent Gastrointestinal and Allergic Diseases
Probiotics are healthy bacteria that have been used to treat and prevent gastrointestinal diseases, as well as illnesses that affect the immune system. A new book entitled Bacteria for Breakfast: Probiotics for Good Health describes clinical trials in which these supplements have been used to prevent and treat Crohn's disease, colitis, diarrhea, vaginal infections, food allergies, eczema, and more!
Hershey, PA (PRWEB) January 7, 2004 -- Kelly Dowhower Karpa, PhD, RPh, an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, has written a book entitled Bacteria for Breakfast: Probiotics for Good Health. Probiotics are "healthy" bacteria for the digestive tract, similar to the "live and active cultures" found in yogurt. Karpa's interest in this area began two years ago when her then-two-year-old son was diagnosed with a life-threatening bacterial infection in his gastrointestinal tract. His illness persisted despite nine months of antibiotic therapy. Karpa refused to accept defeat when doctors told her there was nothing more that they could do for her son. Instead she began searching the medical literature for a cure. Her literature searches kept bringing her back to probiotics. After numerous phone calls and scores of emails, Karpa located a pediatric gastroenterologist with knowledge and experience in prescribing probiotic therapies at Johns Hopkins University. Amazingly, her son's infection resolved within 10 days of initiating an appropriate probiotic therapy!
It doesn't surprise Karpa that replacement of the healthy bacteria that were missing in her son's digestive system was all that was required to cure him of the severe Clostridium difficile infectious diarrhea that plagued him for almost a year. "Essentially," says Karpa, "with probiotic therapy the 'good' bacteria fought the ''bad' bacteria, even though antibiotics had failed to eliminate the 'bad guys'." What did surprise Karpa, however, was the realization that probiotics have also been used to successfully treat Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, recurrent vaginal and urinary tract infections and even prevent and treat food allergies and eczema.
It seems that everyone knows someone who has Crohn's disease. More and more evidence now points to an "infectious" cause underlying inflammatory bowel disease rather than an "autoimmune" process as previously believed. Several pivotal studies were recently published that lend credence to this. Many patients with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis have found symptomatic relief while utilizing probiotic therapies.
Over the past 50 years, the western world has become germ-o-phobic. We use antibacterial soaps and detergents. We vaccinate against common, non-lethal pathogens. We use antibiotics indiscriminately. We avoid bacteria at all cost, and this has become detrimental to our digestive system. Our digestive tracts were actually designed to house trillions of microorganisms. A healthy repertoire of bacteria inside our intestinal tracts is essential for food digestion, protection from disease, and appropriate immune activity.
During the first days of life, bacteria within an infant's intestines begin sending signals to the immune system. Healthy bacteria in the digestive tract allow the immune system to mature properly. On the other hand, unhealthy, aggressive bacteria can program the immune system such that it responds in a hyper-allergic or hyper-inflammatory manner. Studies published during the past few years, including a key study released earlier this year, demonstrate that supplementing infants with probiotics perinatally leads to a nearly 50% reduction in allergic illnesses like eczema -- a reduction that persists throughout at least the first 4 years of life.
In "Bacteria for Breakfast" Dr. Karpa explores the reasons we need healthy bacteria in our digestive tracts, how unhealthy bacteria cause disease, and how probiotics can be used to establish a healthy balance once again. This new book is the only one of its kind. It is a comprehensive summary of medical literature and clinical trials which describe the merits of probiotics, written with both patients and physicians in mind. "Bacteria for Breakfast" is written in easy-to-understand language for those with no medical background, but also contains all bibliographic information desired by clinicians who wish to learn more. Published by Trafford, the book is 11 chapters (~330 pages) in length and retails for $27.50. Excerpts of the book, found at http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-1294.html are available from the publisher. Additional information about Dr. Karpa and "Bacteria for Breakfast", including the book's table of contents can be found at http://www.geocities.com/probioticbook. Karpa may be reached for comment at (717) 877-5537.
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